5 important tips when preparing for your draft

‘Tis the season for drafting — and if you haven’t done at least one “real” draft already, chances are there’s one right around the corner. To make sure you’re fully prepared when the time comes, here are some helpful hints that can turn a good draft into a great one.

1. Be fully prepared

This may be a little basic, but it’s something that shouldn’t be overlooked. Know your scoring system. Know the player pool. Know where you’re drafting. If you don’t have those things down, find a way to delay the draft until you do. (Grandmas are always a good excuse.)

2. Have a single cheat sheet

It’s great to use multiple sources to plan a draft strategy. Preferable even. More voices mean more opinions, which can help crystalize your own.

But when it comes time to sit down at the draft table or enter the virtual draft room, make sure the rankings in front of you are your own — and not anyone else’s.

Even if you print out someone else’s cheat sheet (may we suggest one of those above), indicate which players you think should be drafted higher or lower than the source has.

Many online draft rooms have that ability to order players according to your own rankings and not the site’s default rankings. Visit the draft room early — or better yet, a day or two before your draft — and set at least the top 50 or 100 in your preferred order.

3. Organize players into positional tiers

All it takes is drawing a line where there’s a noticeable gap between players at a position. Some people have eight different tiers of running backs, others have three tiers. Do what makes sense to you.

Consensus at quarterback, for example, is that Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers are significantly more valuable than the next QB in line. Order the top three any way you like — and they should all go within the first three rounds — but after they’re gone, it makes sense to wait on your quarterback.

In most leagues, there will be decent talent available on the waiver wire to fill a bye-week hole in your lineup. And if several of your key players are on bye at the same time, it’s not a bad idea to just take your medicine and chalk up a loss that one week — if it means your lineup will be close to full strength every other week of the season.

The only bye week that should be a concern is your starting quarterback’s. Have a week-by-week NFL schedule handy so that you can find the best possible matchup for your backup QB — when you actually need to put him in your starting lineup.

5. Don’t fall in love with every player you drafted

You’ll want to add and drop players freely during the season, so make sure you have that roster flexibility from the beginning.

Week 1 always unveils some undrafted talent, so be ready to pounce on anyone who looks like he has potential for a larger role than expected.